Gandhara, an ancient region comprising parts of today's Afghanistan and Pakistan, inspires this page, which provides foreign policy audiences with reporting, analysis and commentary direct from our local correspondents in Afghanistan and Pakistan with the aim of promoting peace in the region.

Militants &#39;Capture District Headquarters&#39; In Afghan Province

Taliban insurgents have taken control of a district headquarters in the western Afghan province of Farah, a provincial official says.

Fared Bakhtawer, the head of the Farah provincial council, on March 12 said initial reports indicate that some 15 security personnel were killed and wounded in the fighting at the Anardara district headquarters.

Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, Bakhtawer said Taliban fighters had conducted the raid, hitting the district police and administrative offices from severaldirections.

Bakhtawer added that casualty figures were uncertain because intense fighting was continuing at and near the site.

The assault is the latest in a series of attacks in the province, which is situated on the border with Iran and is one of the poorest in Afghanistan.

On March 10, officials said dozens of people were killed after Taliban militants ambushed Afghan security forces in the Bala Buluk district, sparking an hours-long gunbattle. Some 40 militants were also killed, officials said.

On February 24, at least 18 Afghan soldiers were killed after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in the province.

Four days earlier, Taliban attacks on police checkpoints killed eight police officers. The provincial government said 13 militants were also killed in the fighting.

The recent Taliban attacks on the beleaguered Hazara minority are apparently provoked by the breakdown of a longstanding agreement between the two, according to former Taliban members and Ghazni locals.

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